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[1.8.1-1.12.x] Modular Launch Pads v2.6.1: Launch clamps evolved: Real-style launch bases and towers [03 July 2023]


AlphaMensae

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24 minutes ago, infinite_monkey said:

You mean because the roof would make it harder to look at your Kerbals? I get your point with the panels, though. Btw., some of the pictures abouve don't have them. Can they be disabled or is that from an earlier version?

There was a hinged roof panel, but it would just add needless complexity, and having the open top does make it easier to see inside.

Yeah, the front panels can be separately retracted. 

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The Round and Rectangle Launch Stands have been renamed the General Round/Rectangle Launch Stands, to better separate them from the specialty real-type launch stands.

The General Rectangle Stand has now been remade, and is now on the AlphaDeb branch of the GitHub.

Both of the General Launch Stands use B9PS UI groups to make the PAW better organized:

bEELYlW.png

Due to its nature, the Rectangle Stand has fewer hold-down bolt and arm configurartions available.

Also, after thinking more about droopy-style umbilicals, I'm testing out a simple droop type for the Titan II Service Tower. It's not going to be real curvy, and won't be adjustable, but if it works out ok then I'll make some General Umbilicals in the simple droopy style.

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Made a simple droopy-style Titan II umbilical:

9o3KO0g.png

I'm not sure I want to make general versions like this, as the setup and animation for this was much more complex, and each length/size variant would require its own custom animation. For the Titan II tower, it's ok, as it's the same umbilical for both the arms and the Gemini mast.

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Doing some thinking, and I could make a simpler 2-segment version for the General type droop umbilical. It'd basically be a "V" shape.

It would be far easier that way to make length variants, sized for standard tank diameters from a fixed origin point.

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5 hours ago, si2504 said:

Is there a launch pad for the falcon9 with crew tower etc?

You can use the Tundra Launch Pads mod where you can get LC-39. Maybe you could take a look at KSCExtended where it will be placed for you!

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53 minutes ago, damonvv said:

You can use the Tundra Launch Pads mod where you can get LC-39. Maybe you could take a look at KSCExtended where it will be placed for you!

I have TLP for 39A and KSCextended, but I'm looking for replica's of the falcon 9 + tower. I have Tundra exploration which gives you the F9 and the fallback arm, but I'm yet to see a mod that incorporates the crew tower into it like MLP does for the Saturn V etc.

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1 hour ago, si2504 said:

I have TLP for 39A and KSCextended, but I'm looking for replica's of the falcon 9 + tower. I have Tundra exploration which gives you the F9 and the fallback arm, but I'm yet to see a mod that incorporates the crew tower into it like MLP does for the Saturn V etc.

I have made additions to the Shuttle FSS Tower in v2.1 of MLP, available now as a dev build on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub.

It now has the black&white color scheme and the mesh side panels as options. The RSS hinge has been made a separate part and has a bare option as well to replicate what it looks like now.  The SpaceX-ish general crew arm variant has been converted to the Rodan Crew Arm and made to fit onto the Shuttle FSS tower crew section.

I don't have the Falcon 9 launch plate yet, but will add one in the near future; for now the Medium Launch Base works well, if not like the real thing.

LSCwD4x.png

 

HPv1WRT.png

 

Edited by AlphaMensae
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19 minutes ago, AlphaMensae said:

I have made additions to the Shuttle FSS Tower in v2.1 of MLP, available now as a dev build on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub.

It now has the black&white color scheme and the mesh side panels as options. The RSS hinge has been made a separate part and has a bare option as well to replicate what it looks like now.  The SpaceX-ish general crew arm variant has been converted to the Rodan Crew Arm and made to fit onto the Shuttle FSS tower crew section.

I don't have the Falcon 9 launch plate yet, but will add one in the near future; for now the Medium Launch Base works well, if not like the real thing.

LSCwD4x.png

 

HPv1WRT.png

 

awesome thanks

 

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@AlphaMensae i'm hoping you can give me a little guidance. i've downloaded the 2.1 dev version, and when i try and launch the Ghidorah 9 + Rodan MLP, it just doesn't do anything. I throttle up, push space bar and i hear the staging noise, but the engines don't fire? and EngineerRedux reads that my 1st stage has 0 DeltaV. Any ideas? 

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2 hours ago, si2504 said:

@AlphaMensae i'm hoping you can give me a little guidance. i've downloaded the 2.1 dev version, and when i try and launch the Ghidorah 9 + Rodan MLP, it just doesn't do anything. I throttle up, push space bar and i hear the staging noise, but the engines don't fire? and EngineerRedux reads that my 1st stage has 0 DeltaV. Any ideas? 

Make sure the launch base is not the root part.

Beyond that, it may be a Tundra issue, you might not have everything it needs.

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I have been busy with the new simple general droop-style umbilicals. I had to scrap several nights' worth of work on them as I realized I had taken the wrong approach and was giving myself a lot of needless work, but it at least set the ground work. :D They are now done and on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub,

They come in 4 length sizes, each increasing in 0.625m increments, which are not adjustable like the straight ones, but the mounts have three alternate mount types, each a simple beam&pipe in different lengths to allow the whole umbilical to be moved inward for more precise positioning.

And after making those, I then decided to revise the Thor/Delta Fallback Service Tower to have the same style of droop umbilicals:

All three are now separately adjustable in vertical and horizontal position using deploy limit sliders, with B9PS UI Groups for each. The horizontal adjustment is done by scaling the "mount" mesh (just a solid-color pipe) shorter while moving both the mount and umbilical inward. The net result is that the mount appears to shrink as the umbilical moved inward, without the mount pipe sticking out the back of the tower. :) 

The Thor-Able MLP v2.1 craft file on the AlphaDecv branch has also been updated with the revised tower.

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Took another short side trip to revise the Large General Crew Arm yet again, this time using smarter techniques to replace the 6 separate arms with just two: one with a mount for the Large Crew Elevator, and one with a mount for the Small Crew Elevator. Each has the three style variants, but the third one was replaced with a hybrid of the Style 2 type and the Rodan Crew Arm type; it now shares the same basic arm structure as the other two styles (i.e. squar-ish cross section), but does have windows and solid sides.

ZRyd8xp.png

Using much more B9PS mesh-switching and transform-moving, I was able to include 6 length variants for the Large Mount version, with just the 3 shorter lengths for the Small Mount version (reason being a 20m long arm isn't appropriate for the small elevator :D ). The style variants are also more efficient, with only the side walls being switched (and roof panels added for styles 2 and 3). The net result being that the .mu for each new merged arm is much smaller than the previous 3 separate ones combined. :) 

Also, I made the transfer airlock option switchable in flight, so if you do the stock rescue contracts and have had the misfortune of getting one for one of the arms, now you will be able to turn on the airlock and EVA the Kerbal out of the arm.

The new Large Crew Arms are now on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub.

NOTE: The six existing AlphaDev Large Arms have been deprecated by fully hiding them and removing them from my stock custom category and the CCK category; they are still in AlphaDev though. One change is that the the new Large Mount arm has taken the "GeneralCrewArm" internal part name that was previously used by one of the older separate arms. And craft files that used that old arm will now have the new Large Mount arm instead.

The 6 old arms will remain in AlphaDev until the time v2.1 is officially released, then they will be removed for good, and won't be in the 2.1 release.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been quiet with the dev news, but that's because I've started work on the Atlas Launch Stand, and between trying to figure out how to make the thing and certain distractions cutting into dev time, it has taken a while to get anywhere. :D 

Progress is finally being made, and I have the main (front and back) clamp arms installed but not animated yet.  Still to come are the side clamps, which look more like umbilicals; they're the taller ones with the top piece that flips back really fast to get out of the way of the Atlas going up. :) 

WIP pic with just the main clamps installed:

Ij2abiA.png

The clamps will have two color options: the yellow used at some times, and a darker blue-gray for all the other times Atlas was launched.

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4 minutes ago, AlphaMensae said:

I've been quiet with the dev news, but that's because I've started work on the Atlas Launch Stand, and between trying to figure out how to make the thing and certain distractions cutting into dev time, it has taken a while to get anywhere. :D 

Progress is finally being made, and I have the main (front and back) clamp arms installed but not animated yet.  Still to come are the side clamps, which look more like umbilicals; they're the taller ones with the top piece that flips back really fast to get out of the way of the Atlas going up. :) 

WIP pic with just the main clamps installed:

Ij2abiA.png

The clamps will have two color options: the yellow used at some times, and a darker blue-gray for all the other times Atlas was launched.

Looks sick! 

I also wanted to ask about the Starship launchpad. It'd be cool to see it implemented!

Big Falcon Rocket images by Gravitation Innovation | Space travel ...

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29 minutes ago, alberro+ said:

Looks sick! 

I also wanted to ask about the Starship launchpad. It'd be cool to see it implemented!

 

Not for v2.1, but probably something in v2.3, the planned General Pads update and expansion.

v2.2 will be the Saturn and Shuttle partial remake, plus adding N1 and Energia-Buran bases and tower parts.

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Really liking the Atlas pad.  You can kinda get close now just using a set of small clamps and medium clamps, but having the proper ones would be awesome.  Only thing that would make it perfect is BDB to be able to implement the spring-loaded doors that cover where the side clamps/umbilicals attach.

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7 minutes ago, CAPFlyer said:

Really liking the Atlas pad.  You can kinda get close now just using a set of small clamps and medium clamps, but having the proper ones would be awesome.  Only thing that would make it perfect is BDB to be able to implement the spring-loaded doors that cover where the side clamps/umbilicals attach.

So that's what those are!

Mariner_3_on_the_launchpad.jpg

Oh, Cobalt....... :D 

 

Oh yeah, I'm also going to make the Atlas-Agena and Centaur umbilical arms, those weird ones that rotate upwards. Not sure how fancy they will be, but will make something like them. :) 

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